1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of carbon nanotube formation utilizing chemical vapor deposition.
2. Related Art
Carbon nanotubes are allotropes of carbon which have many industrial applications. Carbon nanotubes are composed primarily of sp2 bonds. These sp2 bonds give them enhanced properties including thermal and electrical conductivity, and immense strength. The tensile strength of carbon nanotubes has been determined to be anywhere from a few Gigapascals (GPa) to over 100 GPa. Other materials such as steel alloys and Keviar® have a remarkably lower tensile strength range of roughly 0.4-5 GPa and 2.92-3.0 GPa, respectively.
Carbon nanotubes can be grown by a variety of methods including laser ablation, electric arc discharge, and plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition. All of the above methods can produce carbon nanotubes with a high degree of structural integrity that are, at most, micrometers in length. The usefulness of carbon nanotubes increases immensely if they can be grown to macroscopic lengths. Various fauns of the chemical vapor deposition technique can produce macroscopic, millimeter and centimeter length carbon nanotubes, however, these nanotubes possess a low degree of structural integrity which causes their performance to be heavily degraded. Taking these observations into account, the biggest challenge facing researchers is the fact that they can only grow carbon nanotubes with a high degree of structural integrity at microscopic scales. In light of the foregoing, a need exists for an improved system and method for manufacturing carbon nanotubes with a high degree of structural integrity on a macroscopic scale.